1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a twisted pair cable for communication of high speed signals, such as a local area network (LAN) cable. More particularly, the present invention relates to a twisted pair cable having a dielectric tape between first and second insulated conductors of a twisted pair.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the Assignee's prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,506,976 shows a LAN cable 1 having a jacket J surrounding first through fourth twisted pairs A, B, C, D which are spaced from each other by a separator 3. Each of the twisted pairs A, B, C, D includes a first insulated conductor 5, a dielectric tape 7, and a second insulated conductor 9, wherein the first insulated conductor 5 is twisted with the second insulated conductor 9 with the dielectric tape 7 residing between the first insulated conductor 5 and the second insulated conductor 9.
As best seen in the close-up cross sectional view of the twisted pair A in FIG. 2, the width of the dielectric tape 7, which extends between opposing edges 11 and 13, is set to extend beyond the first and second insulated conductors 5 and 9. By this arrangement, the opposing edges 11 and 13 of the dielectric tape 7 circumscribe an area 15, around the twisted pairs A, B, C, D. The area 15 creates a spacing between the twisted pairs A, B, C, D and the separator 3 and between the twisted pairs A, B, C, D and the jacket J. This spacing around the twisted pairs A, B, C, D can improve the electrical performance of the cable 1, such as by reducing crosstalk.
In typical cables of the background art, the first insulated conductor 5 would be formed by a first conductor 17 of about twenty-three gauge size, surrounded by a layer of a first dielectric insulating material 19 having a radial thickness greater than seven mils, such as about tens mils or about eleven mils for a typical CAT 6 cable. Likewise, the second insulated conductor 9 would be formed by a second conductor 21 of about twenty-three gauge size, surrounded by a layer of a second dielectric insulating material 23 having a same or similar radial thickness.